"Across southern Florida, rabbits, raccoons, bobcats and foxes have been disappearing at dramatic rates over the past decade, and invasive Burmese pythons are to blame, a US study said Monday."

"The big snakes which are native to southeast Asia have been devouring all kinds of wildlife leading to 'severe declines' in once common animals, said the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The United States formally banned the import of Burmese pythons earlier this month, but the study suggests they have already caused enormous damage to the ecosystem in the Florida Everglades with unknown implications for the future.

The research was based on data from surveys in which dead and live animals are counted along roadways."

Agence France-Press had the story January 30, 2012. [2]